CHICAGO, IL | Messe Düsseldorf announces the first staging of Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum (FPPE) to be held from November 26–28, 2013, at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi. Organized in cooperation with by StarlingExpo, this will be the first “member” of the international “packaging family” of interpack (international trade fair for the packaging sector and related processing industries held every three years in Düsseldorf, Germany) to take place in Africa.

FPPE targets machinery, equipment, and process suppliers as well as food producers and processors representing the complete process chain from the initial process steps such as filling and packaging to logistics. Organizers report BOSCH Packaging Technology, Multivac, and Fawema are three market leaders who have already confirmed their participation.

Bernd Jablonowski, director of interpack, says, “With the Food Processing & Packaging Exposyum, we are tapping into an enormous market potential for our customers while at the same time providing access to urgently needed technology for food producers, which can make an important contribution to decrease food losses there. This is why the SAVE FOOD Initiative supports this step towards concrete measures in a country seriously affected by food losses in the early stages of the production chain.”

The event will feature a format designed to aid exhibitors who may find themselves in an unknown market,” explains Urs Albert Ingold, CEO of StarlingExpo and founder of this format. “We will start every day with keynote speeches by experts which provide practical information on setting up a business or entering into partnerships in Kenya and East Africa in general. This gives the companies exhibiting at the Nairobi venue, which is equipped with the latest presentation and network technology, the added option of showcasing solutions of relevance to the African market. The exchange amongst the Exposyum participants is meant to focus on both demand-driven technologies for local requirements and marketing and distribution strategies—including a look beyond Kenya’s borders. The Exposyum also addresses small and medium-sized companies with the aim of enabling them to make targeted contacts for building distribution and service networks in Eastern Africa.”

As part of the conference program, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, the partner of Messe Düsseldorf in the SAVE FOOD Initiative, together with the United Nations Environment Program, will present the results of an ongoing study on the extent of and reasons for losses of corn, fish, bananas, and dairy products in Kenya. This will give companies in the process and packaging technology sector advice about reducing the problem of these food losses through their products and corresponding know-how while developing promising sales markets at the same time.

Representatives of private and government agencies will be available for relevant information talks during the day, and visit to local companies will be offered following the show.